Vehicle-wheel.



J. C. CERNY.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPucATloN FILED Dsc. 5,1914.

Mwst@ MMA/17M Patented May 18, 1915.

INVENTORS.

Joseph Ce/ng Char/es (amg.

\ ATTUHJVEY.

JOSEPH CERNY AND CII-EIARILESY CERNY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

vEI-IICLE-WI-IEEL.

` Y,specification of Letters Patent. Patinage@ May 18,1915,

Application filed December 5, 1914. Serial No. 875,689.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that we, JOSEPH CERNY andCHARLES CERNY, citizens of the AUnited States, residing at St. Louis,State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

Our invention has relation to improvements in vehicle wheels; and itconsistsy in the novel features of construction more fully set forth inthe specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure `1 is a side elevation of one-half of a vehiclewheel with our invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an edge view of Fig.l; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section on the line 3 3. of Fig. 1; Fig.4 is a plan view of the inner tension spring detached; and Fig. 5 is across-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The object of the present invention is to construct a wheel which willdispense with the prevailing pneumatic puncturable tire, the improvementsubstituting in lieu thereof a tread portion composed of a se ries ofspring-controlled peripheral sections, each section responding to thepres sure imposed thereon by the load supported by it, independently ofevery other section, the responses of the consecutive sections being notunlike the responses of consecutive portions of a pneumatictire, butpossessing the advantage of being non-puncturable.

A further object is to provide a yielding tread which will be simple inconstruction, readily applied to a wheel, durable, and one possessingfurther and other advantages better apparent from a detailed descriptionof the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, W represents the spoked portion of anordinary vehicle wheel, H, the hub, and R the felly of the wheel.Disposed radially through the felly between consecutive spokes is aneXteriorly screw-threaded bushing or sleeve 1 which projects beyond thefelly inwardly and outwardly, the outer portion carrying a jam nut abearing against the peripheral face of the felly, or, against the outersection of a metallic sheathing or cover 2 where such sheathing isresorted to. In the present embodiment of our invention the sheathing isof aluminum, the consecutive sections being wrapped about the fellyk andsecured to the inner and louter sides thereof by screws s cr theirequivalents. Playing loosely through the sleeve 1 and projecting beyondthe ends thereof, is a reciprocating stem or tube 3 whose outerscrew-threaded terminal. is secured to a boss 4 formed on the yinnerside of a rigid hollow tread member or section 5, contouredcross-sectionally to conform to the prevailing shape of casings ofpneumatic tires, the said tread member being preferably composed of twopieces or sections, the smaller one 5 being removable at will andsecuredto'the main section by screws s as shown. vThe section vided. Thefree side edges of the treadV section clear the side faces of the fellyas shown. To make the tread section antiskidding the same is preferablyprovided with rubber teats or knobs 6 secured by screws 7iV andmaintained in addition against lateral strain by bounding ribs or lugs7, 7, the tread sections being prefer ably made of aluminum or otherlight material.

Encompassing the outer projecting ends of the sleeve 1 and tube 3 is acompression spring 8 which is confined between the boss 4 and nut arespectively, the outer end of the spring encircling the jam-nut ncarried by the tube 3 and bearing against the free end ofy the boss 4.Gripped between the inner surface ofthe felly R and a securing nut t isthe outer terminal coil c ofV an expansion spring 9, said coil beingYspaced from the main body of the spring sufficiently to receive saidnut t, the con-V necting member e between said coil and spring properclearing the nut so as not to' interfere with the free rotation and ma`nipulation of the latter (see Figs. 1, 4, and. 5). The inner end of the.spring 9 is provided with an inner offset or shoulder m beyondk whichthespring continues in :the

the shoulder m, and the lock nuts d, al, carried bythe projectingend ota bushing ory hollow plug 10 screwed, or otherwise driven into the innerendotthe tube 3. By the' construction as described,A one end Vot thespring 9 is thus anchored between the nutY Y `.ing section as it leavesthe ground being Y t and the telly, the'opposite end being secured` tother tube 3. When; therefore the tube 3: is driven inward kby a loadimposed on the tread section 5, the spring v8 is compressed, and thespring 9 expanded, the

tormer spring being under compression,`

and the latter Vunder tension; andwlien the l load is removed trom the4treadjmember (after thel `wheel has turnedsuhciently to cause theparticulartread Vmember, to pass ott the ground) the tube .(orreciprocating member) 3 is restoredV to its outer and normal positionbythe conjoint ,action Ot the springs, the spring 8 expanding and thespring 9 contracting.

`1 Inorder to distribute theload imposed ona given tread memberorsection, as vuni-A tormly as possible, each section is provided withasupp'lemental compression spring ll Y disposed in line ot one et thetwo consecutive spokes between whose'radial extensions' the spring 8 ismounted, the outer end ot the spring ll encircling a bossV 12 tormed lonthe underside ot the treadimember 5, and a a socket l3secured to thetelly R, the socket member receiving a radial guide stem Y lalprojecting trom Ythe boss 12, the ends ot the spring being coniinedrespectively between the telly and tread member as clearlyobviousjtromthedrawing. The'several tread members are separated by :radial spaces oso as to play without friction orjrubbing against one another.lThenumber ot rtread sections c ircuinterentially is not material, butthere should be a suiiicientnu'mber to distribute the load to the ybestadvantage. ln the present' illustration a given tread section takes intwo spokes as clearly apparent trom the drawings. The tread membersVmight be applied-to wheels having no de-x fined spokes as obvious tothose skilled in v the art.

The operation may be briefly summarized as tollowszffiis the wheelvrotates with the" 'travel otthe vehicle otwhich it tormsa part,'andassuming the load supported by a,

wheel is sufficient to compress the springs Sia'ndil as yanytread'member or section" passes over the" ground *.(which ot coursewould always be the bottommost'inember) theyielding ot the springsreterred to Vwill cause the stemr 3 to be `torced inward 'or upwardtoward the hub H or rotation aXis ot the wheel, this movement stretchingor messes,

action takes place with the next succeeding section passing over theground, the precedcaused to assume its normal lor outwardly projectedposition by the recovery ot the springs, the compression springs 8 and11 expanding, whereas the spring 9 contracts, torcing the member 5, nowrelieved ot all load, radially outward.V Asingle section or tread memberVsuthces to bear the load,.the

ycircumferential dimensions ot the members being' proportioned so thatthe wheel rests on one section at a time. Y f Y Gbviously theconstruction shown is susceptiblefot manymodifications not necessary Vtoillustrate, but which will appeal to the' skilled mechanic, withoutaffecting either the nature or spirit ot our invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

. In combination v vided with a telly, a tread member' disposedeXteriorly to the telly and spaced therefrom,

la liollowrmember or sleeve passed radially' through the telly andprojecting on either Vside thereof, a stem coupled tp the tread memberand treely reciprocable through the sleeve and projecting a suitabledistance be with aV vehicle wheel pro-l yond each end vot the sleeve'acompressionv spring coiled about the outerportions otthe sleeve andstenifand interposed between the telly and the tread member, a secondspringV coiled about the inner ends vot the sleevegand stem and providedwith anouter .coil Vterminal spaced trom the lbody ot the spring, a nutpassed overthe'innerv end ot the sleeve and operating to securexthe coilterminal to said nut, the inner endotthe springbeing provided with anannularoii'set'or shoulder tor the support ot the inner end ot vthestem, and provided'with a; reduced innerY terminal beyond said offset,and lock-nuts on the stem; tor maintaining the shoulder in permanentyengagement with the stem terminal, the

parts Voperating substantially as and tor the .Purpose set torth. .I

EMIL STAREK, ELSE M. SIEGEL.' l.

, yCopies` of this ,patent maybe obtained fory live cents each, byvaddressing `the Commissioner 'of1 Patents,

Y Washington,iD.G. i

ythe telly, the 'connectingmember between Y saidy coil and bodyotthe'spring clearing*y

